Iran’s economic crisis worsened on Wednesday, with another 9% slide in the record fall of the Iranian currency.

President Rouhani’s speech on Tuesday at the UN General Assembly — in which he said, “Iran and Iranians have never broken in the face of a storm of even, not even been bowed” — failed to instill confidence over issues of productivity, investment, and employment amid long-term internal problems and expanding US sanctions.

After a week-long plateau following another drop, the rial has lost more than 20% of its value since Sunday. It now stands at 190,000:1 vs. the US dollar, compared to an already historically low point of 45,000:1 in January.

Officials were silent yesterday after the latest decline. Rouhani had spoken in New York of US “economic terrorism” on Tehran which he vowed will not succeed.

Iran Daily, September 26: Rouhani Appeals to UN for Stand v. US “Economic Terrorism”

In May, Donald Trump announced US withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and the 5+1 Powers (US, UK, France, Germany, China, and Russia). He promised the implementation of comprehensive sanctions — including on Iran’s energy and financial sectors — from November 5.

Iran’s oil exports have fallen 30% since April and are expected to drop farther. Earlier this week, India — one of Tehran’s top five customers — dealt another blow with the revelation that it is not taking any Iranian oil in November.

Under pressure from hardliners, Rouhani has toughened his rhetoric against the US. However, Parliament dismissed both his Labor and Economy Ministers last month.

Supreme Leader Ignores Economy, Lashes Out at West Over WMDs and “Zionists” Over Media

The Supreme Leader preferred on Wednesday to talk about a “double standard” by Western country towards weapons of mass destruction.

Addressing commanders, veterans, and artists on the occasion for Sacred Defense Week — marking the anniversary of the 1980-1988 war with Iraq — Ayatollah Khamenei dismisses responses to the Assad regime’s sarin and chlorine attacks in Syria as “ballyhoo over accusations of using chemical weapons”. He declared, “[The West] provided the Saddam regime with chemical weapons used not only in the war fronts but also in [Iranian] cities like Sardasht.”

Khamenei complained — even as President Rouhani’s speech in New York was being covered by Western press — that Iran’s voice cannot be heard in the world because global media is “under the hegemony of Zionists”.

Amid the US sanctions, he returned to the Iran-Iraq War, “Iran was not even allowed to use the most basic equipment and facilities like barbed wires, while the other side was provided with the most modern war equipment and even chemical weapons.”